Meursault Quotes

The battle for existence is what drives Meursault to connect more to the physical world. In The Stranger by Albert Camus, there’s a young, detached man named Meursault living in French Algiers. At the beginning of the novel, Meursault receives a telegram, which informs him of his mother’s death. He acts calm during and after the funeral and frolics around with his girlfriend, Marie. While on the beach with his friends, they are suddenly confronted by Arabs and get into a fight. This fight leads to Meursault going to a murder trial because he shoots one of the Arabs four times and kills him. Meursault shows importance of the physical world when he is at Maman’s funeral, while in a fight with the Arabs and when he is at his murder trial. Meaursault connects more to the physical world rather than to the

Meursault states, “…the sun was beginning to bear down on the earth and it was getting hotter by the minute... I was hot in my dark clothes, it was inhuman and oppressive” (Camus). This quote shows how Meursault is focusing on the weather which is clearly a physical element. He also shows much more pain towards the heat during the funeral than to the part where his mother is going to be buried. Therefore, Meursault shows more concern toward the physical elements in this event. The most extreme example of physical experience would be when Meaursault gets into a fight with the Arabs. Meursault shoots initially because of the discomfort of the bright glare reflected off the Arabs knife. When in the courtroom Meursault states that he shot “because of the sun” (Camus). Clearly, Meursault shoots four times because he was feeling overwhelmed with this physical distraction. During the fight, all of Meursault’s attention is focused on the physical element, in this case which is the knife. Evidently, Meursault’s life lacks any higher meaning to human